BONAVENTURE, religious name of Giovanni di Fidanza (c. 1217–1274), Italian scholastic theologian, minister general of the Friars Minor, cardinal bishop of Albano, doctor of the church, and Christian saint.

Life and Works

Information concerning the early life of Bonaventure is scant. His parents were Giovanni di Fidanza, who was a doctor in Bagnoregio in Tuscany, and Maria di Ritello. Bonaventure himself tells that he was cured of a serious childhood illness through his mother's prayer to Francis of Assisi. After early schooling at the Franciscan friary in Bagnoregio, Bonaventure began his studies at the University of Paris in 1235. After earning a master of arts degree, he entered the Franciscan order (Friars Minor), probably in 1243, pursuing the study of theology first under the Franciscan masters Alexander of Hales and John of La Rochelle and later under Odo Rigaldi and William of Meliton.

After he received a bachelor of scripture degree...